Fake engineer fined $500,000

The man who supervised the construction of Christchurch's CTV building has been fined $500,000 by an Australian court for using a British engineer's identity and qualifications for work.

The CTV building after the earthquake on 22 February 2011.
Photo: AFP

In June, Shirtcliffe pleaded guilty in the Queensland Magistrate's Court to 146 charges of carrying out professional services while not a registered engineer, and making false statements to the Board of Professional Engineers of Queensland.

He was fined $A500,000 and ordered to pay $A20,000 in professional costs.

The fine was revealed in a Supreme Court decision endorsing the cancellation of Gerald Shirtcliffe's registration in 2012.

The Board said Shirtcliffe worked on several major coal projects using the name and qualifications of a former flatmate, British engineer William Fisher.

Engineers Australia chief executive Stephen Durkin said he believed the penalty was the heaviest of its kind to be imposed in Australia.